The New Hampshire Fisher Cats spoiled the debut party of Dunkin’ Donuts Park last week. So, one could say what happened in Manchester on Friday night was only fair.
The Hartford Yard Goats got revenge with an 11-inning victory, defeating New Hampshire, 5-4.
The Yard Goats got on the board first with a sac fly in the second from Max White, but the ‘Cats would score two in the fourth, the second run coming from Gunnar Heidt’s steal of home plate following a wild pitch from Parker French.
Both teams traded runs until another sacrifice, this time by Hartford’s Jan Vazquez in the 11th, broke the deadlock. The sacrifice bunt by Vazquez proved fatal for New Hampshire due in large part to an errant throw by Fisher Cats pitcher Alonzo Gonalez, allowing Hartford’s Dillon Thomas to score.
Along with White, the Yard Goats got an RBI from Drew Weeks and a pair of RBIs from Ryan McMahon. McMahon went 4-for-5 on the night and also contributed a double in the eighth.
The Fisher Cats got multi-hit contributions from Harold Ramirez, Tim Lopes and Reese McGuire. Lopes’ pair of hits brought his hitting streak to seven games, including four straight multi-hit games.
New Hampshire’s Jon Harris and French each pitched six innings, and each allowed six hits despite being left out of the decision.
Konner Wade got the win in relief, making up for his loss last week in Hartford to the Fisher Cats. Gonzalez fell to 0-2 on the year.
Both teams return to Northeast Delta Dental Stadium for Game 2 of the series on Saturday. First pitch is 5:35, Luis Neibla (0-2, 11.57) will take the mound for Hartford against New Hampshire’s Shane Dawson (0-1, 7.20).